Semi-homemade (Easy-Peasy) Tortellini Casserole

Semi-homemade (Easy-Peasy) Tortellini Casserole is a big hit in my household.  Everyone loves it and wants seconds when I make this!  It's a hearty casserole that hits the spot.  And it's pretty easy to make.  It tastes like you've been cooking all day!  This recipe makes enough for our family of 3 to have seconds and even leftovers for lunch the next day.

Semi-homemade (Easy-Peasy) Tortellini Casserole
1/2 lb ground turkey (or beef)
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
1 jar Spaghetti sauce (I like Prego, but use whatever you like!)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste

1 t. Italian seasoning
1/2 t. sugar
1 package frozen cheese tortellini
5 oz mozzarella cheese, sliced or shredded, divided

1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, divided


Brown the ground turkey (or beef) with the diced onion and garlic over medium heat.  After the meat is no longer pink, drain.  Add the jar of Spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, Italian seasoning and sugar. 

While the ground turkey (or beef) is cooking, cook tortellini according to the package directions, but cook them 2 minutes less than the package says.  Drain tortellini.

Place 1/3 of the prepared sauce in a greased 9x9 inch pan.  Spread the tortellini over the sauce.  Sprinkle most of the shredded mozzarella and most of the Parmesan  cheese on top of the tortellini.  Save 1/4 c. of mozzarella and 1 T. of Parmesan for the top of the casserole.  Pour the rest of the prepared sauce on the cheese.  Top the casserole with the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan.


Bake in a 350* oven for about 20 minutes.  The casserole should be bubbly and the cheese on top should be melted.  Serve with a green salad.  Enjoy~

Chicken Flat Bread Sandwiches

Last night JP and I attended a geocaching event, Riverside Pond Fireside Chat.  It was a lot of fun seeing some of our geocaching friends!  I made Chicken Flat Bread Sandwiches to take to the picnic and got several comments of how great they looked!  So without further ado...

Sorry about the half eaten sandwiches...they were just so yummy (and huge!)  This picture was taken this morning...these are the leftovers from last night!  You can see that JP ate the tomatoes and red peppers out of sandwich! 

Chicken Flat Bread Sandwiches


Makes 2 extra large sandwiches

2 pieces of flat bread (I bought a package of garlic flat bread from Walmart.  The label said "Flat Bread" and "Naan.")

1/4 c. mayonnaise
8 basil leaves, thinly sliced
1/8 t. garlic powder
1/4 c. hummus (like my Yummy, Yummy Hummus! but any type of hummus will do)


1 Chicken breast, thinly sliced (you can use any type of lunch meat, or combination)

4 slices Cheese  (you can use any type of cheese you'd like!)
1 thinly sliced red pepper
1 thinly sliced tomato
1/2 onion, thinly sliced


 Mix the mayo, garlic and basil together.  Stir well.

To make each sandwich:  Cut each piece of bread in half.  Place one half on a large piece of tin foil.  It should be about in the middle, but fold up the bottom edge of the foil to make sure you have enough to cover the bread.  This will help hold in the juicy goodness of your sandwich.  Unfold the tinfoil and prepare your sandwich!  Spread half of the mayo mixture on 1 piece of the flat bread.  Spread the other piece of flat bread with half of the hummus.  Layer on the sliced red pepper, tomatoes and onion.  Also add the thinly sliced chicken and cheese.  Top with the flat bread that has been spread with hummus.  Fold up the tin foil to cover the sandwich.  Tuck in the sides and secure the top.  

When you're ready to eat, just peel back the foil from the top of the sandwich.  You'll have a little pouch that will hold the juicy sandwich in!  You can peel the foil back as you eat and save your shirt from any drips! 


Review:  This sandwich is very versatile.  You can use any type of meat or cheese (I just happened to use left over chicken breasts from the night before!)  You can also use any type of veggies that you like.  Cucumbers would be great in this sandwich, along with feta cheese!  Next time, I might use a wrap type bread instead of the flat bread, just to try something different.  Enjoy~

Saturday Salads for Supper

This morning JP and I spent some time at the Farmer's Market.  The town that I live in has a small Farmer's Market.  I would love to shop at our Market, but usually I end up driving to Manhattan to the bigger Farmer's Market.  The prices are usually better and there is so much more variety.

So today I picked up some beets, green onions, basil and sugar snap peas.  We stopped at the commissary on the way home and bought some awesome looking (and tasting) cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and a few other things to get us through the week.

Tonight is meatless salad night, and not just your ordinary green salad.  Oh, no...these are super salads using the fresh veggies I bought today.  Yum!

Lentil and Beet Salad

1 c. lentils
3 c. water
1 onion, cut in half
1 rib of celery, cut in half
1 carrot, cut in half
1/4. t. salt

1 bunch of beets, cooked and roughly diced
3 medium carrots, roughly diced
4 green onions, thinly sliced


1/3 c. stone ground mustard (or your favorite mustard...just as long as it's not the bright yellow mustard!)
1/3 c. balsamic vinegar
1/3 c. olive oil
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. freshly ground pepper


Bring the water to a boil and add lentils, onion, celery and carrot.  Cook over medium/high heat for 15-20 minutes until lentils are done.  Remove the onion, celery and carrot and discard.  Drain lentils and cool.


Cook the beets and roughly chop them.  Roughly chop the carrots and cook in boiling water for 3-5 minutes.  Drain.  Cool and add to the lentils.


Whisk the mustard, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper together.  Pour the dressing over the lentils.  Stir well and refrigerate.  You may want to double the dressing, depending on your taste.  Add salt and pepper according to your taste.


Review:  This salad is very earthy and has wonderful flavor.  The mustard vinaigrette is tangy, yet complements the beet and lentil flavors.  When I cook my beets, I usually add the bottom 4 inches or so of the greens during the last 10 min. of cooking.  I chop them into inch long pieces add them to the salad.  I've also cooked the greens, chopped them and added to the salad.  Adding the greens gives more of a beet flavor to the salad.   Enjoy~

 Here's a picture of my dad, my step-mother Joannie, JP and his 2 cousins from Maine.  We were enjoying a family meal on New Year's Eve.







This is one of my FAVORITE salads of all time.  I got the basic recipe from my step-mother's sister, 

Kathy Blecatsis Erskine

JP and I went to Joannie's beach house in Rye, NH several years ago and Kathy had made this salad.

Feta and Tomato Salad

1 pt. cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/3 c. crumbled feta cheese
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
1/4 c. Extra Virgin olive oil (pull out the good olive oil for this!)
6 medium basil leaves, chiffonaded (is it chiffonade?  chiffonaded?)
2 green onions, thinly sliced
freshly ground pepper
salt to taste


Wash and cut the tomatoes.  Place in a medium sized bowl.  Add the rest of the ingredients and stir.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Refrigerate for about 1 hour before serving.  


Review:  I LOVE THIS SALAD!  I love the tangyness of the feta cheese and the juicy tomatoes.  The red wine vinegar and the Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  I've used dried basil when I haven't had fresh, and it is good, but not as good as the fresh basil.  During late summer when tomatoes are ripe, I've used 2 chopped tomatoes instead of the cheery tomatoes, and it's delicious that way, too!  This is good with a crusty bread to soak up the juices.  Enjoy~


This last salad is one of our favorites.  It's easy to whip up and keeps well.  You can add any combination of veggies that you like!

Couscous Salad

1 c. couscous
1 c. water
1 c. chicken broth

1/3 c. crumbled feta cheese
1/2 seeded and diced cucumber
1/2 pint cheery tomatoes, cut into 1/8ths
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 onion, diced
6 fresh basil leaves, chiffonaded
1/2 c. Ken's Lite Northern Italian Salad Dressing
salt and pepper to taste


Bring the water and chicken broth to a boil.  Add 1 c. couscous.  Put a cover on the pot and remove from heat.  Let sit for 5 minutes and fluff with a fork.  Put the couscous into a bowl.  Fluff any clumps with a fork and cool.


Mix the couscous, feta, cucumber, tomatoes, green onions and onion together.  Add the salad dressing, salt and pepper.  You may want to add more/less of the salad dressing depending on your tastes. 

Review:  This salad is so good and it keeps well.  I buy whole wheat couscous at the natural market.  You can also buy plain couscous that comes in a box.  I've used leftover couscous to make this salad.  This salad is very versatile and you can use what ever vegetables you like!  Enjoy~